The Lincoln Monument in Memory of Scottish-American Soldiers
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Funded by a prominent group of Scottish-Americans – organized by then-U.S. Consul in Edinburgh, Wallace Bruce, and including philanthropist Andrew Carnegie – this monument was dedicated in Edinburgh's Old Calton Cemetery on 21 August 1893. Ostensibly erected to commemorate the participation of six Scottish-American soldiers in the Civil War, and in defence of the Union cause, the monument's artistic focus prioritizes an emancipatory rather than a military narrative. Featuring a bronze sculpture of Abraham Lincoln atop a red marble plinth, the composition is notable for sculptor George E. Bissell's inclusion of a bronze figure of an African American man, his arms outstretched towards Lincoln, at the plinth's base and at the visitor's level.
Monument type:
Statue – emancipation
Artist:
George E. Bissell
Dedication Date:
1893-08-21
Address:
Edinburgh
Midlothian
United Kingdom
Inscription:
On the four sides of the base below the statue of Abraham Lincoln (raised bronze letters): EMANCIPATION / EDUCATION / UNION / SUFFRAGE
On the east face of the pedestal, to the right of the slave (incised letters):
"TO PRESERVE / THE JEWEL OF LIBERTY / IN THE FRAMEWORK OF / FREEDOM" / ABRAHAM LINCOLN
On the east face of the pedestal, below the slave (incised letters):
IN MEMORY OF SCOTTISH-AMERICAN SOLDIERS.
On the west face of the pedestal (incised letters):
UNVEILED 21ST OCTOBER 1893
On the north face of the pedestal (incised letters):
SERGEANT MAJOR JOHN McEWAN / CO. H. 65TH REGT. ILLINOIS VOL. INFANTRY. / WILLIAM L. DUFF / LT. COL. 2ND ILLINOIS REGT. OF ARTILLERY. / ROBERT STEEDMAN / CO. E. 5TH REGT. MAINE INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS. / JAMES WILKIE / CO. C. 1ST MICHIGAN CAVALRY. / ROBERT FERGUSON / CO. F. 57TH REGT. NEW YORK INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS.
On the south face of the pedestal (incised letters): ALEXANDER SMITH / CO. G. 66TH REGT. NEW YORK VOLUNTEER INFANTRY [added 1993 for monument's re-dedication]
Signatures : On bronze base by Lincoln's right foot (incised letters): Geo. E. Bissell Sct. 1893
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Conception Date:
1890-01-01
Opening Date:
1892-07-25
Material:
Bronze,Granite
Size:
m x m x m
Creator:
Stewart McGlashen and Son
Cost / Value:
$6300
Erected by:
Scottish-American Soldiers' Monument Committee (Henry R. Heath, Chairman; Wallace Bruce; Frances H. Wilson)
Funded by:
Donations from 63 subscribers, 61 from the U.S. and 2 from the UK
Run by:
City of Edinburgh Council
Indigenous Land
Organization/Curator:
City of Edinburgh Council
Data Sources:
[Bruce, Wallace], The Lincoln Monument in Memory of Scottish-American Soldiers, unveiled in Edinburgh, August 21st, 1893 (Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood, 1893) [available online: https://archive.org/details/lincolnmonument1621scot/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater]
City of Edinburgh Council, Peter McGowan, 'Edinburgh Survey of Gardens and Designed Landscapes: 181, Old Calton Burying Ground' (July 2007), https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/23014/old-calton-burial-ground
Hurley, Caroline, 'Lincoln in Scotland: A Gift of the Gilded Age', American Studies Journal, No. 60 (2016) [available online: http://www.asjournal.org/60-2016/lincoln-scotland-gift-gilded-age/]
Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, 'War Memorial (19th Century)', Canmore: National Record of the Historic Environment (2007), https://canmore.org.uk/site/117416/edinburgh-waterloo-place-old-calton-burial-ground-american-civil-war-memorial
Read below for one of our contributor’s reflections on this monument